We are safe! We knew we were going to be safe, but now we know we are safe. Which is a lot nicer, don't you think? Now all the paranoids can relax, sit back, look at the sky and wave goodbye to 2012 DA14 as it leaves us at five miles per second.

Astronomers are completely confident that the 150-foot-wide asteroid 2012 DA14 is not going to hit…
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It was a close call but, as predicted, 2012 DA14 just passed by. It went through its closest point to Earth at 2:25PM EST. At this point, it was within the same range of Earth's geostationary satellites.

By the way, there's no reason to worry about these satellites either: NASA has been working with US Space Command and there's no chance of collision with any spacecraft now in orbit.

So let's celebrate until the next time.

2:25PM EST: Phew! We are safe! There it goes. It has cleared its closest point to Earth and it's now on its way out.

2:24PM EST: The asteroid is second away from its closest point.

2:20PM EST: On another note, everyone at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory appears to have awesome hair.

2:17PM EST: You can follow the asteroid in real time 3D using NASA's Eyes on the Solar System. It's pretty awesome. Just visit that page and click on "Asteroid Flyby".

2:13PM EST: The asteroid is 17,300 miles away now. People can now see the asteroid using just binoculars in Australia.

13:09 EST: The video shows the asteroid as seen at 12:59UTC from Samford Valley Observatory, Brisbane, Australia. It is moving towards us at "a closing speed of five miles per second." (image by NASA Goddard Flickr)